Aravinda de Silva is one of Sri Lanka's greatest and the finest gifts to world cricket. He has been one of the potential match-winners for the island nation. Aravinda along with the likes of Arjuna Ranatunga, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Sananth Jayasuriya, etc. comprised of a formidable unit which not only went on to become the world beaters but also succeeded in setting a benchmark for Sri Lankan cricket on the world map.  Meanwhile, Aravinda de Silva turned 54 on Thursday.

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Birthday wishes pour in for Aravinda de Silva

As Aravinda de Silva turned a year older, the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the cricket fans came forward to wish the 'Mad Max' a very happy birthday. 

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The illustrious career of 'Mad Max'

Aravinda de Silva, who was nicknamed as 'Mad Max' had an illustrious as well as a successful cricketing career. He had represented Sri Lanka from 1984 to 2003. In his glorious career which had lasted for nearly a couple of decades, Aravinda played 893 Tests and 308 One Day Internationals. He had also played 220 first-class matches and 392 list-A games. The veteran all-rounder scored 6,361 runs and took 29 wickets in Tests while he scored close to 10,000 runs i.e. 9,284  along with scalps in ODI's. Aravinda de Silva had also amassed 15,000 runs in first-class cricket along with 12,095 List-A runs and has also managed to pick up 129 and 156 wickets respectively. 

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The 1996 World Cup

Aravinda de Silva was the backbone of the Sri Lankan team in the 1996 World Cup which was played in the subcontinent and was also co-hosted by Sri Lanka for the very first time. He had played a counter-attacking knock in the semi-final against the title favorites India at Eden Gardens after the Lankans were reduced to 1/1 in the very first over of the match. He scored a 47-ball quickfire 66 at a strike rate of 140.42 which included 14 boundaries which eventually turned out to be a match-winning knock as Sri Lanka reached their maiden World Cup final. In the final against Australia, he picked up three crucial wickets which included the likes of skipper Mark Taylor and Ricky Ponting who were setting a platform for Australia to get to a big score. He then contributed with the bat by scoring an unbeaten 107 as the Arjuna Ranatunga-led side won their first and only World Cup. 

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